Mary Allen
Rat training is fun for both animals and humans. With a little practice, rats can also amaze some with their tricks and impressive feats. You can find out how to teach your rat great commands here.
Before the Training
In order for the rat training to work smoothly, you should of course pay attention to a few things. Of course, you should have a very good relationship with your darling. If your rat is still very shy and cautious, the best thing to do is to slowly build trust in it. It is also advisable to only train with one rat at a time. If you train in small groups, it could happen that the animals distract each other and never know exactly which of them should now carry out the command. In any case, make sure that you spend the same amount of time with each of your rats, be it training or just playing, so that none of your darlings feels disadvantaged. Before you start training, you should find a treat that your rat is particularly fond of. Treats serve as a reward when something has been done correctly and as an incentive to carry out a command. Therefore, make sure to use a treat that your rodent loves.
Simple Commands to Start With
In order not to overwhelm your rat, you should definitely start with very simple commands and tricks. A good example of this is the command “Stand!”. The aim is for your darling to stand on their back legs and stay that way for a few seconds after you have said: “Stand!”. Pick up the favorite treat, show it briefly to your rat, then hold it over her head so she has to stretch to reach it. As soon as she has got up on her back legs to grab the treat, say “Stand!” And give her the treat. You should now repeat this process a few times so that your rat combines the command with something good, namely its favorite snack.
Do Not Give Up!
Practice this command every day with your darling, but preferably never for more than 20 minutes. Otherwise, you could overwhelm your rat and it will lose interest in training. Likewise, you should never train several commands at the same time in order not to confuse your animal. Don’t be frustrated if your workout isn’t progressing as quickly as you imagined it to be at the beginning. Each rat learns at a different speed and your rodent may need a little more time to exercise your command perfectly. Therefore, under no circumstances should you give up your goal, but give your rat the time it needs to understand your command. After a few days and with a little patience, the first trick will definitely work!
New Challenges
Over time you will notice how much fun your pet has in rat training. Therefore, to avoid boring her, don’t teach her just one trick. Once she has memorized a command and executes it almost perfectly, it is time to learn new tricks. The best thing to do is to think of a variety of commands that are quite different from each other. This increases the fun for your rat immensely due to the great variety. You can also gradually increase the difficulty factor. If you initially only taught your rat the command “Stand!”, After a few training sessions, it may be able to retrieve things or complete entire obstacle courses. Your creativity knows no limits!
Practical Examples for Rat Training
To give you a few ideas for rat training, we’ll show you a few tricks you and your rats can use to get started with training.
“Spin!” Or “Spin!”
To learn this trick, you first take a treat in your hand and show it to your rat. Linger with the treat in front of her nose and slowly guide it in a circular motion in front of her. You say the command “Spin!” Or “Spin!” Aloud once. Give the treat to your rodent and repeat this process a few times as well until your rat turns on command.
“Go!” Or “Walk!”
This trick builds on the basis of “Stand!”. If your rat stands on its hind legs on command, you can also teach it to take a few steps upright. To do this, first, hold the treat over your darling until it stands on its hind legs, and then slowly guide it away from its nose at a constant height. If your rat follows the treat on two legs, say the command “Go!” Or “Walk!” Out loud and give her the treat.
“Hollow!” Or “Fetch!”
For the command “Hollow!” Or “Fetch!” You need an object in addition to a treat that your rat can fetch for you. A small ball, for example, is well suited for this. In the beginning, familiarize your rat with the ball and play with it a little. Always have a treat ready, because as soon as your rat picks up the ball and gives it to you, you say the command “Get!” Or “Fetch!”, Take the ball and give it the treat.
Our tip: Use a ball with small holes and stick a treat in the middle. This will make your rat even more aware of the ball and it will try to get the ball on its own. This is a practical aid, especially at the beginning of the training.
Benefits of Rat Training
Training with your rat gives you more than just one advantage. On the one hand, it’s a great way to keep your rodent busy and challenged. Rats are very intelligent animals and love variety in their everyday life, which is why they are almost always open to new tricks and commands. But not only the fun factor plays an important role in training your rat. The bond between you and your darling also grows with every training session. Your rat will notice that you are interested in her and that you spend time with her and will surely be very grateful to you for it. You will see: in no time you are better friends than ever before! Last but not least, you are guaranteed to amaze all your friends and relatives with the various tricks that you and your rat have in store.